Jordan Spieth won the 2009 US Junior Championship
Dear Jordan Spieth,
You probably don’t remember me, although we first met in 2010 when you were the defending champion at the US Junior Amateur at Egypt Valley CC in Grand Rapids. A few weeks earlier, you were on a teleconference line from Dallas, TX, for a media day gathering at Egypt Valley, and I asked you a question. I asked you to explain the level of competition you found on the American Junior Golf Association, an elite Tour reserved for the best junior amateurs in the U.S. You answered insightfully and in complete sentences, showing maturity and poise beyond your 16 years.
Given your stellar reputation, Jack Berry, the outstanding Detroit News golf writer, and I followed you during one of your medal play rounds at Egypt Valley. In fact, we walked all 18 holes with you. Whew! You shot a 5-under 67 and it was easy. But we were also impressed by your congenial and courteous ways, always acknowledging every “good shot” by your playing partners. You ended up losing in the round of 32 to Chelso Barrett, 1 up. (You added a second US Junior title the very next year when you beat Barrett in the finals, 6-and-5.)
Spieth at Egypt Valley in 2010
Years passed, and our paths didn’t cross until you played in the 2014 Masters. I attended all of your press conferences because you played so well, even sharing the 54-hole lead with Bubba Watson, who eventually won, and you finished runner-up. I recall a question posed to you by the New York Times Karen Crouse, asking whether you would explain your admired humility.
You replied simply that if you talked about humility, it wouldn’t be humility. Wow, did I like that answer.
I was at the Masters the next year, when you won and tied the tournament scoring record at 18-under-par 270. You made 28 birdies for the week, smashing the record of 25 by Phil Mickelson.
Throughout that historic week, you constantly spoke in terms of “we,” meaning you and your caddie Michael Greller during press conferences.
Your performance was so impressive that two-time Masters champ and fellow Texan Ben Crenshaw proudly said, “There’s a new sheriff in town!”
And what a year 2015 was. Not only did you win the Masters but you claimed the U.S Open at Chambers Bay and were tied for the lead at the 16th hole at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, the first three legs of the Grand Slam, before losing. Then, at the PGA Championship in August, you were the runner-up!
Since that remarkable year, you won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017 with a dramatic final round marked by a wild bogey that followed a smart unplayable lie decision, in which you divined that your next best shot would be from the practice range. You then went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and par on the final holes to hoist the Claret Jug. (Yes, and the Open returns to a renovated Royal Birkdale next week.)
After you drained your 50-foot eagle putt on 15, you famously told Greller to “go get that ball!”
Spieth at Royal Birkdale and his famous exhortatiion to Greller
Excuse this trip down memory lane, Jordan. But like many, I’ve closely followed your career. Your three majors and 13 PGA Tour wins made you one of the stars of the PGA Tour while you never lost sight of your roots, with no sense of entitlement and with a genuine connection with your fans. Moreover, you’re widely respected by your peers, having served on the PGA Tour Player Advisory Board.
Over the last few years, your personal life has blossomed, with a marriage to your high school sweetheart and now a family of three young children.
But your once “the sky’s the limit” golf career has been in an extended slump. Some of it can be attributed to your wrist injury a few years ago. But you’ve recovered from that for quite some time.
Most observers say your once vaunted putting magic has fallen off dramatically and is at the root of your ills. In your younger days, no one made more putts of consequence than you. You poured them in.
To your credit, you never whine, bemoan, or make excuses about your dramatic fall-off in performance. This season, you’ve played better than last year with a number of Top-20 finishes. But you’ve struggled with closing out rounds and tournaments, plagued with ruinous double bogeys and erratic putting.
Oftentimes on the PGA Tour, such circumstances result in one of three changes or even all three: 1) a change in teachers; 2) a change in caddies; or 3) a change in equipment.
Since your junior golf days, you’ve been tutored by Cameron McCormick, a former National PGA Teacher of the Year. He’s the equivalent of Randy Smith for Scottie Scheffler or, from a bygone era, Jack Grout for Jack Nicklaus or Stan Thirsk for Tom Watson. It’s highly doubtful you’d split from McCormick.
Phil Kenyon
But how about taking a page from Scheffler and adding a putting teacher to examine your frequent tentative stroke on the greens? In late 2023, Scheffler recruited celebrated putting guru Phil Kenyon to his team. After he won his second Masters in 2024, Scheffler publicly thanked Kenyon at the trophy ceremony for his putting turnaround while also extolling Smith for his unselfish welcoming of Kenyon into the mix.
Extra note: Kenyon grew up only minutes from Royal Birkdale!
I don’t think changing caddies is warranted. Michael Greller is rock-solid, a hard worker, and always prepared.
How about changing equipment, specifically your putter? As you realize, you’re one of the Tour’s holdouts still using a blade (TP Mills Trad) instead of a mallet. Recently, in practice rounds at the Travelers you were seen using an L.A.B. Golf mallet putter, but it was never put in play for the tournament.
The result? You were horrendous on the greens in the first round at the Travelers. In fact, you were one of the worst putters in the entire field, losing 2.6 strokes. For the year, you’re ranked 64th on Tour for strokes gained in putting; ranked 79th in putting average; and ranked 62nd for putts per round.
Again, look at Scheffler. After more than a decade of using a blade putter, he switched to a mallet style in 2024 under Kenyon’s keen eye. The change led to a dominant upward performance on the greens, matching his unparalleled ball-striking ability.
Or look at the new U.S. Open champion, Wyndham Clark.
Earlier in the season, he was lost on the greens, ranking 132nd in Strokes Gained Putting. Then he went to the PING Scottsdale TEC Blue Onset mallet putter and the results were spectacular. At Shinnecock, Clark gained an astounding 6 shots on the field entirely on his putting. His one-putt percentage was 45%, 4th-best in the Open, and his overall putting average ranked 2nd.
Jordan, how much evidence do you need to convince you to make a change? Your loyal fans are pulling for you. What better place to start anew than at Royal Birkdale, the scene of such amazing putting in 2017?
A finger is pointing at change and urging, “Go get that!”
Regards,
Terry Moore
Images courtesy (top down) of the USGA, Egypt Valley, PGA of America and Visio
